One of the speakers accuses particular community of spreading terror, J&K Cultural Academy maintains silence

11/8/2018 11:22:39 PM

Early Times Report

srinagar, Nov 8: A book release function organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Cultural Academy here on Wednesday turned into a "communal debate" when one of the speakers alleged that "Hindu extremists" and "Gaw Rakshaks" are responsible for "spreading terror" in the country. It's in place to mention here that Gayoor Foundation along with J&K Cultural Academy on Wednesday released the book 'Seil wa Sehra- Urdu poetry' on the 13th death anniversary of late Ghulam Rasool Gayoor, who was killed by the militants in 1995.The gathering comprised of top intellectuals of the state, including Gyan Peeth awardee, Prof Rehman Rahi, Urdu Editor Cultural Academy, Muhammad Ashraf Tak, Former Director Information Khawaja Farooq Ahmed Renzu, Muhammad Shafi Pandit, Justice Hasnain Masoodi, Satish Vimal, Zarief Ahmed Zarief, Dr Jogindar Singh Shaan, Bashir Arif, Justice Nazir Ahmed Fida and others.Speakers highlighted the contributions of the late poet and paid rich tributes to him. It was entirely a literally gathering till one of the speakers gave a communal twist to the entire debate. "Hindu savageness, Gaw Rakshaks and Hindu extremists are responsible for the terror being spread across the country," one of the participants quoted the speaker as having said.His utterances left the entire gathering shell shocked. The function was organized by the J&K government and he used the government platform to target a particular community.Soon after the speaker uttered such words, the organizers should have disowned his speech by announcing that these are his "personal views" and they have got nothing to do with it. J&K Cultural Academy has maintained silence over the issue and has pushed the matter under the carpet. One of the participants while talking to Early Times said, "If the Academy doesn't come up with a clarification it would mean that J&K government endorses the viewpoint of the speaker and it's an official statement." He said that the people who organize such literary functions should refrain from inviting such people who have a "perverted mindset" and put others also in an embarrassing position. "The function had been organized to pay tributes to the late poet. Unfortunately the stage was used to target a particular community. Which is totally unjustified," the participant said. "We are secular minded people and have always maintained distance from the hardliners."He said that J&K Cultural Community should apologize and black list the speaker who misused the stage. "If the academy fails to do so it would tantamount to J&K government endorsing the communal views of the speaker," the participant added.